Bucko,
Are you saying that this particular producer had a mediocre year or that German wines had a mediocre year? I'm puzzled because Germany produced scads of beerenauslese and eisweins in 1999 which would indicate to me lots of sunshine in late summer/early autumn.

Wondersofwine, the criticism of the German '99s is that there was too much sunshine and that the wines suffer from overripeness. They are luscious and delicious but there is concern that the acid levels are too low and that, consequently, the wines lack grip and definition and will not age particularly well.

For what it's worth, the ones I have had have been delicious. Loosen Urziger-Wurzgarten Spat., Prum Graacher Himmelreich Spat., Donnhoff Schlossbockelheimer Kupfergrube Spat. These are really my first experiences with German riesling so I can't speak to the comparative merits of this vintage with others, but I can say that I like these.